Saint Cloud’s Park and Recreation hosted their yearly haunted trail, The Trail of Terror, on October 18th, 19th, 26th, and 27th. It was given raves by many locals. The Trail of Terror has been a tradition for the City of Saint Cloud since 2014, and each year it has a different theme. This year’s theme was Ripped from the Silver Screen, which included scenes from the movies Jigsaw, Beetlejuice, Purge, and many more.  

      The trail begins in front of a movie screen prop which lifts up to lead the attendees to the first scene, Jigsaw. In the Jigsaw scare zone, the puppet sits in a coffin surrounded by his victims. Afterwards, the attendees are led into The Nun and Purge scare zones the actors would jump on and off the stationed cars to scare. Following, Beetlejuice and Lydia then greet the participants and walk them to Pet Cemetery. Many were frightened as the Witches screamed their spells and as they walked by a caged child screaming for help in the witches scare zone. Next, Clowns crowded the ruined circus set “haunting the town,” that had blood everywhere and beheaded cotton candy props. To finish off the trail, Scream, Chucky, and Art the Clown sweep Children of the Corn to scare any of the last guests.  

      Overall, the trail took months to prepare. Abi LaClair, a parks and recreation worker, assisted in setting up the trail and worked as a scare actor. With the recent natural disasters, the destroyed trail had to be rebuilt in a short amount of time, but even with these obstacles, Abi still feels “It was well put together for the allotted time.” Due to the destructive storms and rapidly approaching start date, part of the trail had to be either revamped or omitted days before opening night. Luckily, Abi added, “There are a bunch of volunteers and staff helping.” They had plenty of helping hands to make sure customers had an entertaining experience.  

      On the last day, all tickets for the trail were sold out. Many adults attended the trail, discovering the event through social media and word of mouth. Alexa Wareck, a local, attended two out of the four nights. She felt “It was very fun and feels different each time.” Each experience being irreplaceable. She also mentions, “I have gone most years and always have fun. I come back because I know it will be well-built and a great experience each year.” Complementing the arduous work of the employees and volunteers.  

      All sorts of people enjoyed the trail. Between being able to scare others and being frightened, it is an overall exciting event. This wraps up Halloween at Saint Cloud, until next year.  

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